The newly-elected Saskatchewan NDP leader started off her first week in the position by beginning a tour around the province.

Carla Beck's first stop was here in the southeast, meeting business owners in the livestock industry at a ranch near Roche Percee.

At the event, Beck branded cattle and observed some of the best practices for livestock being put into practice on the farm.

The tour is part of a strategy that began during her campaign for party leader, to get out and meet people in Saskatchewan.

"I and the MLA team will be out and about all around Saskatchewan, talking with many people. At their workplaces, coffee shops, and just getting a sense of how people are doing coming out of the last couple of years and what their priorities are for themselves and their families."

Beck says that she enjoys traveling through the southeast, and is pretty familiar with the area thanks to a familial connection.

"It's good, I'm no stranger down here. I've got a brother who lives down in Carnduff, so we do get through here quite often. It's always great to be down here. We find that people right across the province, we share a lot of values and we can always find connections and good conversation no matter where we go, and that's certainly the case in the southeast."

A topic that's come up in conversations is the current affordability problems, and what communities are doing to try and alleviate their worries.

"Talking with people about how affordability is impacting them, some of the places where they might see challenges or they might see opportunities to grow the local economy, and to take advantages of some of the things we're seeing right now, like the high oil and gas prices. I know we saw some drilling on the way down here."

The Saskatchewan NDP leader says she's glad to be out and about so that she can hear from the people in the province.

"I think any representative, any government should be doing the things that we're doing right now. getting out and listening to people, getting out and understanding the local economy, understanding the services that are needed, where things are going around, and where there need to be improvements. That listening, that connecting with people is a focus for us."

"It's been difficult to be about the last two years, we're taking advantage of this time and it's been great so far."

After the stop in Roche Percee, the NDP team drove through Estevan and made their way up to Prince Albert.